Making a Good Script Great

Customer Reviews:

Do you really want to write screenplays?.......2007-10-02

If so, you will love this book. As someone who reads all the books I can on screenwriting over and over as I write, I find this book invaluable. What separates it from the others? The chapters on subplots and scenes really help. I also have found Rob Tobin's book, John Truby's course, Kate Wright's book, Blake Snyder's book, Michael Hauge and Chris Vogler's DVD/books instruction to be helpful. These books don't just tell you to reveal character and move the story forward; they show you how.

Kind of boring, but good information.......2007-06-27

Linda Seger teaches or taught script writing at some school somewhere. She loves to tell you this in her book. I don't think she actually ever wrote any movies in her life that I can tell. According to the Internet Movie Database she was listed under Miscellaneous Crew in the "Never Ending Story II: The Next Chapter". Not exactly a block buster. So I think she should work a little harder on her craft. My guess is that she has made more money teaching and writing about movies than actually writing a movie. She is listed as script consultant in some random movies I've never heard of. Probably worth the $3 I paid used but not much more. Here's a tip for the author. Go write a movie we've heard of and then write a book.

Polish Your Hollywood Star.......2006-09-22

Reading a screenwriting book by Dr. Linda Seger is like taking a hundred meetings with Hollywood's best writers and directors, and listening in as Seger helps them mold their stories and scripts into a hit. Seger's experiences are vast, and she's generous with her advice, which is smart, visual, commercial, and practical. If you do what she says, your chances at selling and getting your screenplay made are tremendously magnified. Making a Good Script Great, for instance, is one of those books that every screenwriter should read (again-and-again) before starting the next project. A good screenplay is complex and sophisticated, but must read simply, easily, and enjoyably. The task is a multifaceted, intense, and long-suffering. Seger, however, provides the chisels and rouges to take your diamond in the rough, sharpen its edges, and polish its faces, until your script gleams and sparkles like a Hollywood star.

Linda's writing was helpful in the writing of my own book on screenwriting published by Michael Wiese Productions -- THE MORAL PREMISE: Harnessing Virtue and Vice for Box Office Success.

Helpful.......2006-02-21

This book offers some good insight. This 'is' about "Making a Good Script Great" as the title says, so it's not for someone looking for a starting guide. For those people, I would reccomend "Lew Hunters Screenwriting 101."

I must warn, that the book references 'Witness' allot. So if you haven't seen it, see it. And see Ghostbusters too!

Overall though, this guide is one of the few that actually delivers, and is a quick and easy read.

-Matt

the publisher doesn't want to deal with you.......2005-08-18

The book is good, but the publisher is a horror for educators to deal with. (ex: requests for desk copies are met with a reply that amounts to 'buzz off')

The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters: Insider's Secrets from Hollywood's Top Writers

Average customer rating:

A Must Read
The truth you need to hear before pursuing your dreams
Yes, I am tired of reading old reviews on Screenwriting Books too.
A Must Have For Aspriring Screenwriters
A good "dip-in" book for the isolated writer

The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters: Insider's Secrets from Hollywood's Top Writers
Karl Iglesias
Manufacturer: Adams Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting

ASIN: 1580625509

Amazon.com

Aspiring screenwriters don't need another book on how to write a screenplay, says Karl Iglesias. What they need is a book on how to be a screenwriter. Voilà: The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters, featuring interviews with 14 screenwriters, arranged by subject. The result reads like a panel discussion, touching on such subjects as collaboration, schmoozing, discipline, Hollywood, and story pitching. The dream of winning a Hollywood jackpot has lured everyone and his gardener into the screenwriting game. Still, despite the unencouraging odds, "all you need to do is write a good script," says Scott Rosenberg (Beautiful Girls). Some of the book's best advice concerns one of the screenwriter's most formidable hurdles: getting a screenplay read. Submit it to film festivals and screenwriting competitions, or follow Tom Schulman's (Dead Poet's Society) advice and hire an entertainment attorney. After all, "most of them know a lot of agents." --Jane Steinberg

Customer Reviews:

A Must Read.......2007-05-14

This is a must read for anyone who aspires to be a screen writer. Any wannabe writer has their own personal favorite blogs, a blog that helps inspire, motivate and teach them. This book is almost a best of those blogs from successful writers whose movies they have written have actually BEEN PRODUCED.
The one main theme of this book is just write and write and write because you love writing and not because you want the Hollywood celebrity lifestyle. Great writing will open a lot of doors for one and most importantly, keep that door open.
In my opinion, I like to study and and read how successful writers from all genres got their first break, their work ethic and how most importantly they work through writer's block and rejection. Again, Karl Iglesias' book does that successfully.

The truth you need to hear before pursuing your dreams.......2006-04-10

I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Iglesias at the Screenwriting Expo. He knows his craft, he loves the business. And he's brutally honest in conveying the realistic odds of breaking into Hollywood. While no one ever says it's easy, he can tell you just how hard. This book is a must read for any aspiring screenwriter. Interviewing some of the greatest screenwriters, they all are forthcoming in telling their own tales of struggle, achievement, success, and most of them, frustration.

This book may be geared toward all screenwriters, however it succeeds in leaps and bounds, by telling the realistic truth any up-and-coming screenwriter needs to hear. Too often people are putting together a script hoping to win the lotttery, sell it for mid-six figures, and not taking the time to understand that the money should never be the motivating factor of writing any script. And if that's your only motivation, you'll never succeed in making your dream come true. This book reminds those of us that do it for a different reason, what that reason is. It's the love of writing. Anything else, any other reason, is simply a waste of time and energy.

Mr. Iglesias lays it out in plain view, through interview after interview, just how much of an uphill battle it is get someone to simply give your script a look, and even then, chances of your selling it are slim. Nicholas Kazan once spoke at a seminar. He told them to go turn in their registration forms and go home. He then told them that if any of them seriously entertained that advice, they would never make it. It's all about challenge and it's all about sacrifice. This book will help you realize how important both of those things are.

Yes, I am tired of reading old reviews on Screenwriting Books too........2006-03-06

I always find it frustrating when I go to Amazon and look at the reviews that are posted and find that they are at least 2 to 3 years old. So I decided to at least make a more up-to-date review.

First and foremost, this book is NOT a `How to Write a great Script' book. This book is about screenwriters and their knowledgeable insight on the practice we all know as Screenwriting. These established screenwriters ( Akiva Goldman: A Beautiful Mind, A Time to Kill, and the up coming The Da Vinci Code Steven E. de Souza: Die Hard, 48 Hours.) reference their past experience on what works, what does not work, and what habits you need to establish to have a successful career in the shark infested waters of Hollywood. Not sure how many hours you need to write day in day out? Thinking that you are the only one with a spouse and kids, fearing that you will not have enough time to write? Arrived at Hollywood lost with no plan of action on how to get your script read? Worried that you born yesterday and began sending inquiry letters to agents and producers? Fear of rejection (it is inevitable) from everyone? All these topics are discussed and more in this book.

This book is required reading for all serious screenwriters. I also suggest Breakfast with sharks by Michael Lent, The Art of Dramatic writing by Lajos Egri, Story by Robert Mckee, Making a good script Great by Linda Seger, and The Writer Got Screwed by Brooke A. Wharton.

A Must Have For Aspriring Screenwriters.......2005-11-28

This is one of thost books that you absolutely must read if you are an aspiring screenwriter. It's a goldmine of quality information to help you go from being a decent or lousy writer to a great one. Fourteen of Hollywood's most successful screenwriters share their secrets and tips to writing and selling your scripts to Hollywood. It's like getting private lessons from the pro's. Don't pass this book up, it will make a big difference in your writing career.

A good "dip-in" book for the isolated writer.......2004-12-20

Think of this book this way: it's you having a cup of tea with a bunch of good and not-so-good (but working) screenplay writers. This is not a formula for greatness, but rather a list of suggestions and experiences that you can greatly benefit from if you are so inclined.

Don't be put off by the cover. This is a good book. The best thing about it is it creates a sense of community and exchange of knowledge in what is essentially an isolated (and some might argue isolating) occupation.

This is a "dip-in" book which I find useful and refer to often.

How Not to Write a Screenplay: 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make

Average customer rating:

Almost Worthless
Read this one - but not first.
Entertaining overview of the things most new screenwriters do wrong
Excellent workbook
Okay, Okay

How Not to Write a Screenplay: 101 Common Mistakes Most Screenwriters Make
Denny Martin Flinn
Manufacturer: Lone Eagle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1580650155

Amazon.com

How Not to Write a Screenplay is an invaluable addition to any aspiring screenwriter's shelf--and you'd best make the shelf within arm's reach of the computer. Author Dean Martin Flinn, an experienced script reader, details the common rookie mistakes that drive script readers crazy. Flinn makes no pretense of being able to teach anyone how to write the next Great American Film--or for that matter the next Stupid Summer Blockbuster. Instead he offers information that will help keep the novice screenwriter's opus from being immediately tossed on the trash pile (arguably a more valuable service). As Flinn says in his introduction, if you follow the advice in this book, "you may not write a particularly good screenplay, but you won't write a bad one." Flinn offers practical advice on formatting, such as the proper form for a slugline and where to set your margins, and more general rules of thumb on giving the actors room to interpret their roles and avoiding dictating camera angles to the director (who will ignore them anyway). The second half of the book deals with content, also in a remarkably pragmatic way--structure, pacing, plot resolution, and dialogue that really stink are all handily dealt with. Flinn illustrates almost all his points with excerpts from screenplays both good and bad (names have been changed to protect the guilty), giving the reader concrete examples of the difference between poorly and well-structured scenes. Not sucking is an unusual goal for a screenwriting manual, but any script reader will agree it is a noble one. --Ali Davis

Book Description

Finally, what may be the last screenwriting book a writer will ever need to buy!

Customer Reviews:

Almost Worthless.......2007-05-13

There are at least two valuable books on screenplay writing - this is not one of them. Once a writer has read David Trottier's "Screenwriter's Bible" and Robert McKee's "Story", it is obvious that "How Not to Write a Screenplay" is full of obvious points and platitudes that are almost worthless. Most of this book is excerpts from screenplays that blatenly seem to be there so the book has more pages. Don't waste money your money on Flinn's book.

Read this one - but not first........2007-03-12

I have several "How to" books on screenplay writing. If you do too, then you need this one. It tells you what you are doing wrong. I promise many more than one "Oop!" moment from this entertaining and easy to read work.

Entertaining overview of the things most new screenwriters do wrong.......2006-08-29

Flinn has a sense of humor. That is the first thing one notices while reading his book, and that's the one thing that makes it stand out.

"How NOT to Write a Screenplay" is a witty and entertaining tool for learning the DOs and DON'Ts of the screenwriting craft. Packed full of examples drawn from real and make-believe scripts, it can be a definite help to a writer new to the industry. Anyone who has ever read another of the many available books on script formatting will find his commentary amusing. For example:

"Don't use (CONTINUED) at the top and bottom of each page. You're wasting four lines. Anyone reading your screenplay who doesn't know he's supposed to turn the page is a numskull."

Or his comments regarding music suggestions:

"Leave the music track alone: 'THIS SHOULD BE AN UPBEAT SCENE WITH A GOOD MUSIC TRACK.' (Darn. The studio really wanted to use a bad music track.)"

The second half of the book, covering content and story development, provides similar information to that of books by more well-known authors such as Linda Seger or Syd Field, but offers that information encapsulated in smaller sections that make everything quite easy to relate to...sections such as "Suspense", "Believability", "Twists" and "Whammies".

While the book doesn't teach you how to write the perfect screenplay, it does cover many of the practical details. Its strength isn't in storycraft but rather in addressing all the little details screenwriters tend to forget or abuse. Though some of the information is repetitive, there are plenty of examples and excerpts from screenplays -- some good, most bad, and some you may even recognize. Flinn's advice coupled with the many examples can help you avoid the pitfalls so many screenwriters encounter.

Excellent workbook.......2006-08-07

So happy I purchased this before starting my screenplay so I didn't have to do endless edits.

As a reader of many bad screenplays Mr. Flinn certainly knows the pitfalls that will keep a screenplay from even being finished. excellent workbook.

Barbara Gilmer

Okay, Okay.......2006-08-05

This is a book that could have been a long article, or two. But those article would have been interesting. I found the book getting very repetitive in the last half, when we started getting the same material over and over again. But the notions is good: that you need short scenes, with a whammy.

The Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay: How to Write Great Screenplays for Movies and Television

Average customer rating:

A Great Book!
The best!
Read it Thrice
Finally, somebody who knows what they're talking about!
Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay

The Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay: How to Write Great Screenplays for Movies and Television
Cynthia Whitcomb
Manufacturer: Watson-Guptill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Writer's Guide to Selling Your Screenplay
Writing Screenplays That Sell: The Complete, Step-By-Step Guide for Writing and Selling to
How to Write a Selling Screenplay

ASIN: 0871161915

Book Description

With the average payment for a screenplay over $100,000, every writer knows that screenwriting is where the money is. In this guide, successful screenwriter and teacher Cynthia Whitcomb shares her extensive knowledge on writing for the screen. This book will teach you her proven techniques, including how to:

• test an idea for its commercial potential
• plan a compelling script
• write great openings and endings
• create characters that grow and evolve
• revise and hone your script to attract Hollywood agents and producers

Includes lists of the best movies to study—and why!

Cynthia Whitcomb has sold more than 70 feature-length screenplays, 25 of which have been filmed. She has made millions of dollars for her work, and her scripts have won and been nominated for many awards, including the Emmy Award, Cable Ace Award, Edgar Allan Poe Award, Humanitas Award, and Writers Guild of America Awards. Her students have also gone on to write successful box-office hits. She has taught screenwriting for many years, including seven at the acclaimed UCLA Film School.

Whitcomb's commercial success and teaching experience make this an essential resource for anyone who wants to write winning scripts for Hollywood.

Customer Reviews:

A Great Book!.......2007-04-04

I'm writing my first screenplay and found this book to be invaluable. Worth its weight in gold.

The best!.......2007-03-14

I've read other screenplay books, watched videos and this book is the best! Not just telling you what to do but with real world suggestions. She rewrites movie endings for you so you can see how a good movie could have been a great movie. She shows you mediocre dialogue and rewrites it so it's great movie dialogue.
It's a great book for novelists too. Creating crisp believable dialogue, creating conflicted characters, pacing. It's all here.
She is direct and like a great movie, gets to the real issues fast.

Read it Thrice.......2006-10-08

"A Brief History of Time" for scriptwriters.

Compressing novel-length stories into an interesting 90-120 minutes, is a big part of the art.

Whitcomb puts a huge quantity of important information into very few pages.

She writes with simple words in short sentences, yet the content is astonishingly information rich.

And spot on.

A rare talent seen only in the very gifted.

There are books on scriptwriting that run to 500+ pages that are quite good. J. Michael Straczynski's works come immediately to mind.

However you can re-read this book 5 times in fewer minutes than it takes to read any of those longer books once. With repetition, you'll surely retain much more of what you read.

Recommended. Highly.

Finally, somebody who knows what they're talking about!.......2006-07-04

Whenever I am about to buy a 'how to write' book, I first look at the bio to see what the writer has actually done. Just about every 'how-to' is written by a 'haven't-done-much.' Cynthia Whitcomb's professional experience is far and away the most.

Not to say other books don't have sound advice, but I sensed a depth here that was lacking elsewhere. I attribute that to her experience.

BTW, I'm a published prose writer, and I recommend this book for prose writers, since a lot of what she says translates over to the written page. It wouldn't hurt novelists to structure plots and develop scenes with as much craft and skill as screenwriters do.

Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay.......2006-03-06

As an old writer who is new to the field of screemwriting, I have found the industry full of mystery when attempting to write a screenplay. Cynthia's book takes away a lot of the confusion and worry by succinctly explaining terms, giving multiple clear-cut examples, and laying out the entire process so that rookies can learn the basics, and experienced writers can get a quick review from an entertaining source. I am sincerely hoping Cynthia plans to write a similar book in the future with regards to publishing hints!

Average customer rating:

Fantastic insight
Beginner or Pro this will work for you
WARNING!!! This book will make you WANT to become a Film Compoer!
Not a bad book, but not what I expected
This Book Is The Best

Complete Guide to Film Scoring
Richard Davis
Manufacturer: Berklee Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0634006363

Book Description

An essential resource for both students and professionals, offering shrewd insight into the business, process, and art of writing music for film and TV. Interviews with top film scoring professionals add the priceless insight of the wisdom that comes with experience.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic insight.......2007-07-13

This book arrived at my house yesterday, and I have since nearly completed it. I really can't put it down. This book is a real gem, with interviews of the real pros whose work you have certainly already heard. This book really gives you an extensive background of music in movies and a formidable description of what kind of work it REALLY takes to take on such a monumental task. For someone who is interested in film scoring, it shows you just about everything and everyone you will encounter. The interviews towards the back of the book are total gems. This book was a shot-in-the-dark buy, but a real gem. If you write music and you don't own this... you get the idea.

Beginner or Pro this will work for you.......2007-07-03

It`s all Berklee here !!!

Written by the great Richard Davis it`s an invaluable book that reveals the film scoring process.

It's just perfect for people who wants to begin a composer career. Very practical to read.

And if you're pro this will ilustrate you how to do it better, and have some important considerations

WARNING!!! This book will make you WANT to become a Film Compoer!.......2007-06-28

WARNING: this book will make you want to become a film composer! The quick, easy-to-read form of COMPLETE GUIDE TO FILM SCORING is nearly flawless because the more you read, the more you'll want pursue film scoring as a career.

The first part on the History of Film Music I was actually planning on skipping but I'm glad I didn't because it was super interesting! This section contains just enough information to make the reading effortless; not too many details to bog down the opening chapters.

Production is the title of the next section, which explores how a movie gets made and, more importantly, how music is incorporated into the film. Section two explains the composer's time frame, the spotting session and how every member of the music department contributes to the score. Now this is when the book begins to get dangerous because, as you read it, you think, "So these are the people that will work for me when I'm the film composer".

The guide gets more dangerous in Part 3, the Music because this section talks about composition, styles, songs, soundtracks, animation, and ethnic music but presents no written music. Part 3's chapters only offer examples of movie soundtracks; therefore you could only understand the particular idea of the example by actively listening to the soundtrack of the movie. This fact has forced me to give this book four stars instead of five. (If more musical examples of great film music are what you are looking for, buy The Art of Film Music which is full of them!)

The next section deals with the business side of music. This section is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS and is the reason I gave this book a warning. The first chapter in the section talks about attorneys and agents. The way the author talks of about them, it gives the impression that the composer composes and everyone ELSE does the rest. Then, he explains copyrights and other aspects of publishing which was very informative. At the end of this section it explains royalties and throws huge dollar amounts at you. By the end of this chapter you can't wait to become a composer!

The last section has some fascinating interviews. 19 to be exact, and because there are so many, they kind of blend together.

Now let me explain the warning.

If you are good at interpreting scenes and are able to write music to match, then this book will only add to your knowledge and when you read it, you should be saying to yourself, "I can do all of this!" If you cannot interpret scenes and write music, you'd better plan on learning to do so because if you want to be a film composer, this book's added knowledge will NEVER make up for your lack of musical comprehension.

Not a bad book, but not what I expected.......2007-01-12

When I bought "The Complete Guide to Film Scoring", i wasn't expecting it to be so... complete.

Actually, being a music major i was expecting a much more musical approach to this subject. I was interested in examples and more detailed information about how to write music for a film. The book includes this subject in a chapter, but it is treated pretty generaly.

What I found, and in really detailed way, were the means of making money with your score, full of examples, different approaches and all the necessary data to take full advantage of your score. However, it didn't satisfy me too much.

This Book Is The Best.......2006-11-10

I am a film music composition student and this is the most detailed book that I have read on the subject. The interviews with well-known film composers are really good. I highly recommend this book.

Writing Screenplays That Sell: The Complete, Step-By-Step Guide for Writing and Selling to

Average customer rating:

Still Unbeatable
I love this book
AWESOME Book for anyone who wants to learn or improve your Screen writing
The best first book on screenwriting without a doubt
How great is this book? I've bought five copies!

Writing Screenplays That Sell: The Complete, Step-By-Step Guide for Writing and Selling to
Michael Hauge
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0062725009

Book Description

The up-to-date, acclaimed guide to writing and selling screenplays to today's film and TV markets. This is the new screenwriter's bible.

Customer Reviews:

Still Unbeatable.......2007-04-27

I'll go straight to the point: the part on character creation and development is worth all the books published about the subject in the last twenty years. The simple-straightforward-logical method displayed here is simply unbeatable.

This is really an old book, but don't make the mistake to think of it as outdated. Sure, it's kind of weird read things as "recent films like Rambo" but all the eighties movies that he mentions and uses as practical examples are totally time tested.

Also, I would pay its full price for the single analysis of The Karate Kid included. Laugh if you want. I'm sure you will learn a lot.

A final thought: There are two kinds of "how-to" books. The ones that should be called "how-should" (yeah, that ones that tell you how a good script should look judging by the subsequent movie, i can do that too) and real "how-to's", that guide you step by step with a logical process so you can learn.

Obviously, Hauge's book stands proud among the last ones. Thank you, Mike, wherever you are.

I love this book.......2007-04-17

I just finished taking a continuing education course on script writing at my local college and this book has been very helpful with supplimenting what I learned. It is packed with all kinds of info and is very easy to read. There are several good books out there and this is one of them.

AWESOME Book for anyone who wants to learn or improve your Screen writing.......2007-03-31

I purchased this book and Mike's Hero's Journey DVD and he has a great way to explain the magic of screen writing, his advices and examples are clear and helps you apply right away to your screen writing. I enjoyed very much reading his book and seeing his DVD. I highly recommend any book or materials from Mike to anyone that might be aspiring to become a screen writer or wants to improve your screen writing techniques.

The best first book on screenwriting without a doubt.......2006-12-24

First of all, I feel I have to say that English is not my mother language, but never mind; I have read this book easily. To be honest, I've just read only a first half of the book; the second part - An Analysis of The Karate Kid - I was not interested in.

However, the first half (which is about 160 to 170 pages) gave me the full insight of the ingredients of a good screenplay and how to obtain them. Although the book is not perfect, I think that after reading it you can easily write your first screenplay with the confidence.

These days I am reading Ray Frensham's Teach Yourself Screenwriting which (in my opinion) has more extensive approach to screenwriting, although it is more concise written. However, the knowledge gained from the Writing Screenplays that sell helps me great to absorb the material from that book very easy.

So, if you want to start learning how to write screenplay from the beginning, first read Writing Screenplays That Sell, and you will not regret. On the contrary, you will be very satisfied with that decision. After that, you can read any book you like or immediately start writing you first screenplay, whatever you wish.

How great is this book? I've bought five copies!.......2006-11-02

If my house were burning, and I could only rescue ONE screenwriting book of the 60 that I own and (yes) have read, it would be Michael Hauge's "Writing Screenplays That Sell."

While it is terrific for the beginner, I had already written three scripts before reading this book, but the advice and guidance in this book focused me so well that I now judge my writing experience as "pre-Hauge," and "post-Hauge." Post-Hauge, I have had five scripts reach Semi-Final stage in the Nicholl Fellowship, and three have been optioned.

I have also bought this book as gifts for five friends, including my son, who said that they wanted to learn how to write a feature script.

You won't go wrong following the advice in this book.

The Screenwriter's Manual: A Complete Reference of Format & Style

Average customer rating:

Note from the Publisher
excellent resource (but buy the other cheaper copy)

The Screenwriter's Manual: A Complete Reference of Format & Style
Stephen E. Bowles , Ronald Mangravite , and Peter A. Zorn
Manufacturer: Allyn & Bacon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Making a Good Script Great
Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting
Screenwriting for Film and Television
Elements of Style for Screenwriters: The Essential Manual for Writers of Screenplays
The Screenwriter's Workbook (Revised Edition)

ASIN: 0205426557

Customer Reviews:

Note from the Publisher.......2006-06-30

We're extremely happy that the book has been found to be an excellent resource.

We wanted to clarify why there are two books available on Amazon with two prices. Allyn & Bacon, a Pearson Education Company, is an educational publisher, and as such we publish books with pedagogical tools to be used in college courses. The edition with the sample log line and treatment and sample step outline appendices is for the education market. When we decided to publish an edition for the broader consumer market, titled The Complete Screenwriter's Manual: A Comprehensive Reference of Format and Style, the pedagogical tools were no longer necessary, and thus we could remove them and set the trade edition at a lower price.

excellent resource (but buy the other cheaper copy).......2006-03-28

Every page of this book -- except two appendices (16 pgs: Sample Log Line and Treatment, and Sample Step Outline) -- is identical to what is found in "the Complete Screenwriter's Manual, another version of this book at $12.32 Amazon ($18.95 retail). That being said, the content that is identical is absolutely excellent. Both works outline in extreme detail how to format all the elements of a screenplay: dialogue, slug lines (scene designations), instructions or action description, parentheticals, and transitions. Copious examples of how to write into a screenplay the following: sound effects, flashbacks, phone conversations, car scenes, foreign languages, dreams, time-shifts, voiceovers, and much more. Also shows common MISTAKES in formatting that mark a script as the work of an amateur.

The Whole Picture: Strategies for Screenwriting Success in the New Hollywood

Average customer rating:

Richard Walter on Screenwriting
BY FAR THE BEST SCREENWRITING BOOK YOU CAN GET
I Won't Take Instruction From Anyone Else
More advice than an actual manual
Follow the Suitcases

The Whole Picture: Strategies for Screenwriting Success in the New Hollywood
Richard Walter
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Screenwriting | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Screenwriting: The Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television Writing (Plume)
Write Screenplays That Sell: The Ackerman Way
Lew Hunter's Screenwriting 434: The Industry's Premier Teacher Reveals the Secrets of the Successful Screenplay
The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script
Aristotle's Poetics for Screenwriters: Storytelling Secrets From the Greatest Mind in Western Civilization

ASIN: 0452271797

Customer Reviews:

Richard Walter on Screenwriting.......2004-11-08

I got to see Richard Walter do a seminar at SMU one weekend for our writer's group. I was enthralled. The man is a creative dynamo. And it shows in his books. He puts in his books succinctly what Mckee tries to say in his tombs. I write fiction, not screenplays, yet I recommend Walter to all writers.

BY FAR THE BEST SCREENWRITING BOOK YOU CAN GET.......2004-09-18

This book by far is the best screenwriting book I've read and I've read a lot of them. The tools I learned in this book I've used even in my fiction writing. It deserves all the praise it receives and Professor Walter is a very down to earth, approachable guy. -- Jeff Rivera (Author of Forever My Lady: A Novel) www.JeffRivera.com

I Won't Take Instruction From Anyone Else.......2003-01-25

This book is so complete that, at this point, I won't even consider taking instruction from any other source on the subject. I own both of Mr. Walter's books and have found them to be both inspirational and invaluable during my journey into the screenwriting craft. I am currently working on a screenplay and have two others outlined and waiting. As a novice of the trade with no formal training, I honestly don't beleive I would have grasped some of THE most important aspects of this craft were it not for Mr. Walter. The following principals, which can be found in this book, as well as his first, "Screenwriting: The Art, Craft and Business of Film and Television Writing", are the reasons why:

(In my own words)
(1) Every drop of ink which makes up your screenplay must be properly integrated in order to effectively advance story, plot and character. Simply put, your words should deliciously and tantilizingly seduce your audience from one scene to the next, all the way through to climax and conclusion. If a particular scene or piece of dialog hinders this progression, the audience becomes riders on a proverbial rollercoaster. This rollercoaster promises a great ride and may even get off to a magnificent start but soon begins to stop, start, sputter and chug; the boxcar barely makes it up the big hills, lacks the momentum to properly execute the loops and ultimately poops out to its disaterous end, leaving its "passengers" feeling angry, annoyed and immensely disatisfied. Screenwriters if you want to dazzle your audience take them for the ride of their lives at full throttle and don't you dare interrupt that "ride" with boring settings, dull characters, or uninspired dialog.
(2) Movies utilize TWO SENSES ONLY: Sight and sound. That which cannot be seen or heard must never appear in your screenplay as it cannot be shown on screen. This simple rule should train screenwriters to become more skilled in conveying thoughts and feelings through dialog and action alone.
(3) Movies are for AUDIENCES not WRITERS. Throw in "meaningless prattle" for no reason other than it suits or amuses you personally, and you may as well throw in the towel as this ranks number one on the long list of screenplay (and film) suicide.
(4) To those screenwriters who like to write dialog in keeping with "the way people really talk", Richard Walter reminds us that "the way people really talk is free", but movie-speak costs! Dialog must be crisp, concise, brilliant and poetic yet, somehow, magically come across as natural as one hundred percent cotton. If this principal sounds contradictory, implausible, or downright impossible to you, I sincerely hope you work it out as this principal is the mark of a great screenwriter if not the very definition of screenwriting.
(5) More can (and should) be said with less.
(6) That which is implied is often superior to that which is actually spoken. Strive to craft scenes where, when appropriate, actions speak louder than words.
(7) Respect your audience and give them credit. Don't spell everything out as if for a six year old. Strive to write more subjectively and less leading.
(8) Just WRITE! Do the Hollywood film and television community a favor and don't attempt to "direct" or "act" your screenplay from your trusty word processor. To do so is "not merely unappreciated" but downright "resented".
(9) Conflict and tension are the two most important aspects of a great screenplay. The writer who develops and nutures the ability to use conflict and tension effectively will captivate an audience from the first frame to the end credits no matter what the subject matter, and in doing so hold the key to this craft.
(10) Shock them! Dazzle them! Excite them! Incite them! Frighten them! Sicken them! Touch them! Repulse them! Move them! Anger them! Thrill them! Inspire them! Amaze them! JUST DON"T BORE THEM!!!

This, and much more is, in my opinion, Richard Walter. There is a reason he is Professor and Faculty Chairman of the prestigious UCLA Screenwriting Program. Pick up his books and find out why.

More advice than an actual manual.......2001-02-07

There are many books out there about structure and where to put what plot points where and Richard Walter has made an addition to that field itself with "Screenwriting: The Art, Craft and Business of Film and Television Writing.

However, this is more about advice on issues of screenwritings, arguing such points about all screenplays being personal, which I might add he does so very well. He also gives advice on why writers write, agents and working within the industry. And a look into the process of rewriting a scene of a screenplay (very useful). I would describe it as Adventure's in the Screen Trade without the bitterness of Goldman.

My only criticism being that it makes you so hungry and ravaneous for more advice. The Bibliography is more useful than what you find at the end of most books.

It is a worthy addition to any screenwriter's or movie moguls bookshelf.

Follow the Suitcases.......2000-08-02

Married, harried, and crumpled Herb arrives with his suitcases to take up his assigned post at the Book Fair. He runs into an old flame. In no time at all, he's stashed his suitcases in a locker at the trainstation; finds himself in a hotel tryst with this woman from his past; and after sex and cigarettes, returns from a trip to the bathroom to find the bloodied corpse of his illicit lover, and the aforementioned suitcases at the foot of the bed. From there, we follow the suitcases through the twists and turns in the tale Richard Walter, chairman of the screenwriting dept. at UCLA, has constructed to illustrate the elements of solid, artful storytelling.

Walter's two books, The Whole Picture, and Screenwriting: The Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television Writing, are among the most practical and helpful a writer will be fortunate enough to come across. For the neophyte, they may not contain enough information on the exasperatingly nit-picking "industry formatting standards" that get scripts past the scanning eyes of a scriptreader, but he shines a bright, clear light on the single most important bit of information a writer must know if s/he is to come to the end of his/her labors with a good screenplay in hand: write well. In addition to making his points by using this clever device of constructing a story right before the reader's very eyes, he reveals a great deal of sound advice about the movie business and what works in a screenplay. If you don't know how to integrate a compelling theme with characters an audience can care about, dialog that rings in the ear, and action structured to keep the story moving forward, learn how before you quit your day job.

Book Description

This is the first true textbook for a course in screenwriting. Story Sense provides specific strategies for writing story, character, and script. A wealth of techniques are suggested so that screenwriters can select those that work best for them. The book has been conceived as a working manual for screenwriters and offers hands-on advice for solving the many problems that crop up as the work progresses. In addition, the book includes examples of script format, a glossary of film terms, the Writer's Guild's compensation terms, and such insider examples as a sample studio script evaluation form, a sample script analysis, a sample studio reader's questionnaire, and a sample re-write.

Customer Reviews:

Story Sense.......2007-07-18

If you are serious about becoming a screenwriter, this book will be a valuable addition to your professional library. Lucy goes into depth on subjects other authors ignore or treat lightly. Usually if you can learn one or two things from a screenwriting book, it's worth reading. This book clarifies subjects other authors fail to explain. Lucy not only explains all the loose ends, but ties them together. There are a lot of good books on screenwriting, and this is one of them. Cynthia Whitcomb has a couple of books on screenwriting that you might also want to read.

One of the Best.......2006-01-01

This should be required reading for any type of writer--novelist, screenwriter, playwright. The sections on plot and character development are worth double what this book costs.

Too many "how-to" books on writing perpetrate the image of a writer as a conduit for mysterious creative forces. While I'm not entirely discounting that image, there needs to be a balance between writing as an art and writing as a craft. This book falls firmly in the craft column. It demands you cast aside any artistic pretensions and get down to the plumbing of creating a story. And it doesn't stop with the obligatory pep talk--Lucey shows you how it's done. And he shows it better than any other writing how-to out there.

If I could give this ten stars I would. Highly recommended.

Most In Depth, Useful Screenwriting Book.......2004-11-01

This book should be a mandatory read for writers of all types and all levels. Story Sense offers the tools to develop an entertaining, clever plot with emotionally and psychologically dimensional characters. It takes you step by step through idea, plot, and character formulation, as well as explains how to develop structure, dramatization, and everything else you need to write the perfect screenplay or fictional story. You will find yourself highlighting passages and constantly refering back to this "bible" throughout your writing journey. Keep this book close by, it has all the answers you need as a writer.

The best screenwriting I've seen!.......2003-05-08

I have read many screenwriting books and this is the most complete. It takes you by the hand through each step of the process. I would recommend it to anyone interested in screenwriting. The book even states that if you follow the steps in the 12 chapters it should take you 120 hours and would be equivelent to a college course. No need for any other training. This book is it!

Absolutely great book.......2003-02-18

When ordering several books on screenwriting this book caught my eye because of the high ratings afforded it by others. After reading it I fully concur with what others had to say. I went out and purchased DVDs of the four main example films (The Verdict, Terminator, Sleepless in Seattle, and Witness) that Mr. Lucey focuses on and they allowed me to pick up the fine points described in the text. His vast experience in script writing shows through in each of the topics discussed. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. For a detail-oriented individual such as myself, this book met all my expectations. If you are interested in this topic, this book is a "must have" by all means.

The Elements of Screenwriting: A Guide for Film and Television Writers

Average customer rating:

An excellent guide for writers.

The Elements of Screenwriting: A Guide for Film and Television Writers
Irwin R. Blacker
Manufacturer: MacMillan Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Screenwriting Tricks of the Trade
Good Scripts, Bad Scripts: Learning the Craft of Screenwriting Through 25 of the Best and Worst Films in Hi story
The Tools of Screenwriting: A Writer's Guide to the Craft and Elements of a Screenplay
Aristotle's Poetics for Screenwriters: Storytelling Secrets From the Greatest Mind in Western Civilization
Making a Good Script Great

ASIN: 002861450X

Customer Reviews:

An excellent guide for writers........1999-08-31

Although the title would seem to aim this book at a specialized market, this is in fact an excellent guide for writers in all markets. The theme of the book is that a well-written story will be much easier to sell than a poorly written one. The majority of the book is devoted to guidelines for plot and character development in the context of the specialized requirements of film and television. Many of the directions in the book are applicable to writing aimed at a wide variety of markets. There are several useful examples of actual scripts and other industry-specific forms that serve as bluprints for the aspiring film and television writer. There are also examples of synopsis and treatments as they are used in the industry. The second half of the book is devoted to the mechanics of the visual entertainment industry and how the script and writer fit in. The appendices deal with the Writers Guild and include an agency list. This book is a must-have for the aspiring film and television writer.

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